Ausage Fomai thought all hope was lost after his rugby career ended.

Three men have been charged over a $224 million cocaine haul after allegedly boating out to pick up a 560kg shipment dropped by a ship off the Western Australia coast.

The Queensland trio – aged 49, 32 and 29 – face life imprisonment after being charged following raids in both states on August 11.

The huge drug haul – which police claim could have been used for 2.8 million street deals – was allegedly found wrapped in plastic at a home in the small coastal town of Kalbarri, about 570 kilometres from Perth.

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"It will be alleged in court that the three men were responsible for purchasing a boat and collecting the cocaine after a bulk carrier vessel dropped it into the ocean off the coast of Western Australia," the Australian Federal Police (AFP) said.

A boat, two vehicles and $30,000 in cash were also seized from the WA property, police said. 

Queensland properties linked to the men in Toogoolawah, Taigum and Redcliffe were also searched by police.

Police launched an investigation after a tip-off about a suspicious vessel, with a bulk carrier travelling from Fremantle searched when it landed in Port Lincoln, South Australia, on Wednesday.

The joint operation involved the AFP, Australian Border Force (ABF), Western Australia Police Force, and Department of Home Affairs.

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Authorities said there were 1800 cocaine-related hospitalisations between 2020 and 2021, placing "significant pressure" on the healthcare system.

The "highly addictive" drug is being intercepted and seized at Australian borders in record quantities, according to ABF Commander Ranjeev Maharaj.

"This is the second time in as many months that the collective effort of ABF officers and our law enforcement partners have successfully disrupted brazen attempts at bringing large quantities of cocaine along WA's coastline," Maharaj said.

The 49-year-old from Toogoolawah and 32-year-old from Taigum have been charged with importing a commercial quantity of cocaine into Australia, and having possession of it.

The 29-year-old Redcliffe man was also charged with possessing a commercial quantity of cocaine.

The trio have all faced court and been remanded in custody.

They will next appear in Perth Magistrates Court on September 22.

North Korea is increasing its repression of human rights and people are becoming more desperate and reportedly starving in parts of the country as the economic situation worsens, the UN rights chief said Thursday.

Volker Türk told the first open meeting of the UN Security Council since 2017 on North Korean human rights that in the past its people have endured periods of severe economic difficulty and repression, but "currently they appear to be suffering both".

"According to our information, people are becoming increasingly desperate as informal markets and other coping mechanisms are dismantled, while their fear of state surveillance, arrest, interrogation and detention has increased," he said.

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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un closed the borders of his northeast Asian nation to contain COVID-19.

But as the pandemic has waned, Türk said the government's restrictions have grown even more extensive, with guards authorised to shoot any unauthorised person approaching the border and with almost all foreigners, including UN staff, still barred from the country.

As examples of the increasing repression of human rights, he said, anyone found viewing "reactionary ideology and culture" – which means information from abroad, especially from South Korea – may now face five to 15 years in prison.

And those who distribute such material face life imprisonment or even the death penalty, he said.

On the economic front, Türk said, the government has largely shut down markets and other private means of generating income and increasingly criminalised such activity.

"This sharply constrains people's ability to provide for themselves and their families," he said.

"Given the limits of state-run economic institutions, many people appear to be facing extreme hunger as well as acute shortages of medication."

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Türk said many human rights violations stem directly from, or support, the militarisation of the country.

"For example, the widespread use of forced labour – including labour in political prison camps, forced use of school children to collect harvests, the requirement for families to undertake labour and provide a quota of goods to the government, and confiscation of wages from overseas workers – all support the military apparatus of the state and its ability to build weapons," the UN high commissioner for human rights said.

Elizabeth Salmón, the UN special investigator on human rights in North Korea, echoed Türk: "Some people are starving. Others have died due to a combination of malnutrition, diseases and lack of access to health care."

The United States and North Korea, which fought during the 1950-53 Korean War, are still technically at war since that conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.

Salmón said the frozen conflict is being used to justify the continued militarisation.

North Korea's 'Military First' policy reduces resources for the people, Salmón said, and the country's leaders demand that they tighten their belts so the money can be used for the nuclear and missile programs.

The Security Council took no action, but afterwards US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who chaired the meeting, read a statement on behalf of 52 countries while flanked by many of their ambassadors.

The statement said the North Korean government commits "acts of cruelty and repression" at home and abroad which are "inextricably linked with the DPRK's weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile advancements in violation of Security Council resolutions."

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea is the official name.

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The countries called on all 193 UN member nations to raise awareness of the links between the human rights situation in North Korea and international peace and security, "and to hold the DPRK government accountable".

North Korea on Tuesday denounced US plans for the council meeting as "despicable," saying it was only aimed at achieving Washington's geopolitical ambitions.

Vice Foreign Minister Kim Son Gyong called the United States a "declining" power and said if the council dealt with any country's human rights, the US should be the first "as it is the anti-people empire of evils, totally depraved due to all sorts of social evils".

China and Russia, both allies of North Korea, opposed the meeting, saying its human rights situation doesn't pose a threat to international peace and security.

China's deputy UN ambassador Geng Shuang said pushing the council to consider human rights at a time when confrontation has intensified on the Korean Peninsula will escalate the situation.

"It is irresponsible, unconstructive and an abuse of the council's power," he said.

He urged the council instead to take "practical actions to respond to reasonable concerns of the DPRK" and create conditions for a resumption of talks.

Russia's deputy UN ambassador Dmitry Polyansky called the meeting "propaganda" and "a cynical and hypocritical attempt by the US and its allies to advance their own political agenda to step up pressure on Pyongyang".

He dismissed Western attempts to link North Korea's human rights situation to peace and security as "absolutely artificial".

But Thomas-Greenfield said Pyongyang's "war machine," which is "powered by repression and cruelty," is undeniably a matter of international peace and security.

She said that is why the US, Japan and Albania requested Thursday's long-overdue meeting.

Great Place To Work, the global authority on workplace culture, has announced the Aussie winners in its 16th annual 'The Best Workplaces' list.

On today's Vietnam Veterans Day the RSL in New South Wales has offered an apology for the treatment of thousands of defence personnel who fought in the bloody conflict.

This year marks 50 years since Australian forces ended their withdrawal from Vietnam, one of the most controversial and divisive military engagements in the nation's history.

NSW RSL President Ray James apologised for their treatment by the organisation.

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"RSL NSW acknowledges a generation of veterans who are still healing and we publicly recognise our charity's past mistakes this Vietnam Veterans Day," he said.

"As a Vietnam veteran myself, it's extremely important to me that all veterans know that RSL NSW is committed to ensuring that no veteran is ever left feeling unwelcome."

From 1962 to 1973, more than 60,000 Australians served in the Vietnam War as part of an allied force led by the United States.

Australian casualties were 523 dead and about 3,000 wounded.

But many who fought found themselves turned away by the RSL when they returned from Vietnam.

Community opposition to Australia's involvement in the war led to veterans being shunned by the public and even rejected by veterans of other conflicts who did not regard Vietnam as a 'real war'.

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The RSL said support for Vietnam veterans and the wider veteran community has improved markedly over the past 50 years.

Thousands of Australians are today gathering at the Vietnam Forces Memorial in Canberra, and across the country, to honour the service of veterans who fought there.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese paid tribute to them today.

"Many of our troops returned to face new battles at home and not every one of those battles was won – it is important as Australians we know the stories of service in Vietnam and what our veterans faced when returned home.

"We honour you, we thank you and we are so sorry it took us so long as a nation to do so."

The search for victims isn't even halfway over, but the devastation wrought by Maui's wildfires already defies imagination as scrutiny mounts over the cause – and the officials' response.

At least 111 people – including children – were killed in last week's catastrophe. And the tragedy is expected to intensify, with most of the burn zone still left to search, Maui Police Chief John Pelletier said.

"No one has ever seen this that is alive today – not this size, not this number, not this volume," Maui Police Chief John Pelletier said on Wednesday (Thursday AEST). "And we're not done."

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The number of residents still unaccounted for is "probably still over 1,000," Hawaii Governor Josh Green told CNN.

Search crews are expected to keep scouring the charred debris of more than 2,000 burnt homes and businesses for days, the police chief said. Some are working despite immense personal grief.

"Realise that the responders that are going out there are recovering their loved ones and members of their families," he said.

While the cause of the fires hasn't been determined, Hawaiian Electric – the major power company on Maui – is facing scrutiny for not shutting down power lines when high winds created dangerous fire conditions. A company that runs a sensor network on Maui says it detected major utility grid faults hours before fires started.

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Hawaiian Electric said publicly in 2019 it would conduct drone surveys to identify areas vulnerable to wildfires and determine how to help keep residents and infrastructure safe.

But between 2019 and 2022, Hawaiian Electric invested less than US$245,000 on wildfire-specific projects, citing regulatory filings, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Hawaiian Electric also didn't seek state approval to raise rates to pay for safety improvements until 2022, and the rate hike has yet to be approved, the Journal reported.

CNN has reached out to Hawaiian Electric for comment.

Fires are still raging

The most destructive blaze, the 2,170-acre Lahaina fire, was 89 per cent contained as of Wednesday night, the County of Maui posted on Facebook.

Several other wildfires are still burning in Maui, including the 440-hectare Olinda fire, which was 85 per cent contained as of Wednesday, and the 80-hectare Kula fire, which was 80 per cent contained, according to Maui County.

"We are spread thin, and we are at multiple locations throughout the island," Maui County Fire Chief Brad Ventura said. Still, "If something should come, we're ready for it."

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Questions about sirens

Hawaii has one of the largest siren warning systems in the world, but the 80 alarms on Maui stayed silent as flames spread.

The sirens are primarily used to warn when a tsunami is approaching the area, and if they had sounded, many residents would've gone to the mountainside, where the fire was at its worst, Maui Emergency Management Agency Administrator Herman Andaya said.

A burst of wintry weather will spread across New South Wales today and into the weekend, with the chance of snow for ski resorts after a dry start to the season.

The chilly blast is from a polar air mass being dragged away from the Southern Ocean by a strong cold front that is spreading over the central and northern ranges in NSW, Weatherzone reports.

Following a spell of unusually warm and settled weather in the state last month, this frigid air mass will deliver some of the coldest weather of the winter.

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Showers are falling across most parts of NSW ahead of the cold front moving in.

There will also be a strong westerly wind increasing today. Wind gusts should reach 70km/h to 80km/h along some exposed parts of the coast and ranges in NSW today, with isolated damaging wind gusts exceeding 90km/h possible.

Strong wind and gale warnings have also been issued for the Hunter Coast, Sydney Coast and Illawarra Coast today.

There is also a severe weather warning in place for Lord Howe Island, off the NSW coast, with damaging winds of up to 90km/h expected today.

Some of the rain in NSW will fall as snow over the next couple of days. Unlike most other frontal systems so far this winter, this one should push far enough north to deliver snow-bearing air outside the Alpine areas.

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Snow should reach down to about 900m to 1000m elevation in southern and central parts.

The weather system will be good news for the snow-starved Alps and will offer a glimmer of hope for skiers in northern NSW that have gone without any flakes so far this season.

Australia as a whole has just experienced its ninth warmest July dating back to 1910, with the alpine regions of Tasmania, NSW, and Victoria among the country's warmest spots, according to Weatherzone.



At least 10 people have died after a charter plane crashed onto an expressway north of the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur.

The plane, carrying six passengers and two flight crew, departed from Langkawi International Airport and was headed to Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport, the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia said in a statement on Thursday.

"First contact made by the aircraft with Subang Air Traffic Control Tower was at 2.47pm (4.47pm AEST) and landing clearance was given at 2.48pm," according to the statement.

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At 2.51pm, the "control rower observed smoke originating from the crash site but no mayday call was made by the aircraft" the statement added.

The plane crashed into a car and a motorcycle, each carrying one individual, reported state newspaper Berita Harian, citing Selangor police head Hussein Omar Khan.

"Forensic personnel are in the process of collecting the remains and will bring them to the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital in Klang for a post-mortem examination and identification process," Khan said, according to the state newspaper, adding that the Ministry of Transport will conduct an investigation.

Transport minister Anthony Loke said investigations were ongoing.

"No one survived the crash," he said at a press conference.

"Victims (on the road) will also still need to be identified, will update in due time. Forensic confirmation needs to be taken."

Videos and images of the scene taken by Malaysian media showed a burnt section of the highway cordoned off, with smoke in the air.

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Sir Michael Parkinson, the renowned British broadcaster, journalist and author most famous for his interview program, has died aged 88.

A statement was released by Parkinson's family confirming his death.

"After a brief illness Sir Michael Parkinson passed away peacefully at home last night in the company of his family," the statement says.

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"The family request that they are given privacy and time to grieve."

Born in Yorkshire, the son of a miner, Parkinson started his career just out of school in newspapers before moving into television in the 1960s.

He was best known for his eponymous chat show, which first aired on the BBC in 1971.

The first run of the show lasted 11 years, before it returned in 1998. Its final episode aired in 2007, and included appearances from Sir David Attenborough, Sir Michael Caine, Australian actor and comedian Barry Humphries, Dame Judi Dench and David Beckham.

Even though some of his best-known interviews were his less polished, more controversial ones, such as the infamous 2003 encounter with Meg Ryan when he was told to "wrap it up" – and which he later expressed his regret over – Parkinson had no complaints about his career.

"I've loved every minute of it, I've been a very, very lucky man indeed," he said in 2016.

Over the show's four decades on air, Parkinson built a reputation as one of television's great interviewers, highlighted by iconic episodes with the likes of John Lennon, Billy Connolly, and Muhammad Ali. 

The legendary boxer was arguably Parkinson's most memorable sparring partner – and described by the host as his favourite guest. He was interviewed four times on the show in the space of a decade.

He also welcomed plenty of Australian guests onto the show, including – perhaps unsurprisingly given his love of cricket – Shane Warne shortly after the star's Test retirement, and Kerry Packer after the formation of World Series Cricket.

Years after Parkinson had finished, the British presenter conducted the interview in which champion Australian swimmer Ian Thorpe came out as gay in.

Indeed, Parkinson had close ties to Australia, a country he described as his second home when he became the first non-Australian to give an Australia Day keynote address in 2011.

In a 2009 interview with A Current Affair host Tracy Grimshaw, Parkinson said he easily settled into the country.

"What I liked about Australia was I never had to think 'do I like it or not'," he said.

"From the very moment I arrived here, I enjoyed it."

In the '70s and '80s, he hosted an Australian version of his chat show, Parkinson in Australia, that ran parallel to the British series, and included interviews with Bob Hawke, Bert Newton and John Farnham. 

Later in his life, he admitted that being in the spotlight took a heavy toll on him. In an interview, he said he took to drinking after the death of his father, although stopped short of becoming an alcoholic after seeking health advice.

In 2013 he revealed he had been diagnosed with and was receiving treatment for prostate cancer, which he was given the all-clear from two years later.

Parkinson was knighted in 2008, eight years after he was made a CBE.

BBC Director General Tim Davie described Parkinson as "the king of the chat show".

"He defined the format for all the presenters and shows that followed.

"He interviewed the biggest stars of the 20th century and did so in a way that enthralled the public. Michael was not only brilliant at asking questions, he was also a wonderful listener.

"Michael was truly one of a kind, an incredible broadcaster and journalist who will be hugely missed."

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Tom Coombes was walking home from university when he was stabbed to death.